De Oli Pursued With As Many Of His
Troops As Could Keep Up With Him; And Having Passed The River By The
Assistance Of His Friends Of Guacacualco, He Again Attacked The Mexicans,
Whom He Again Defeated And Dispersed, Losing Two More Of His Horses.
He
received two wounds himself on this occasion, and his horse was wounded in
several places.
He halted two days after his double victory, receiving the
submission of all the neighbouring chiefs, after which he returned with
his troops to Segura de la Frontera. De Oli was received with applause by
Cortes and all of us; and when we laughed at him for the hesitation of his
men, he joined with us heartily, saying he would take the poor soldiers of
Cortes on the next expedition, and not the rich planters who came with
Narvaez, who thought more of their houses and estates than of military
glory, and were more ready to command than to obey.
Cortes now got information from Villa Rica of the arrival of a ship
commanded by one Comargo, having upwards of seventy soldiers on board, all
very sickly. This vessel had belonged to an expedition sent from Jamaica
by Garray to establish a colony at Panuco; the other captain, Pineda, and
all his soldiers, having been put to death by the natives, and their ship
burnt. On finding, therefore, the ill success of that adventure, and that
his men were afflicted with diseases of the liver from the unhealthy
nature of the country, Camargo had come to Villa Rica for assistance. He
is said to have been perfectly acquainted with the state of affairs in New
Spain; and, on his arrival at Villa Rica, he immediately disembarked his
soldiers, and went to Segura de la Frontera by slow marches, where he and
his men were received with the utmost kindness by Cortes, and every
possible care was bestowed for his and their recovery; but he and several
of his soldiers soon died. By reason of their swollen bodies and
discoloured countenances, we used to call these men _the green paunches_.
That I may not interrupt the thread of my narrative, I shall mention in
this place, that all the rest of this armament which was destined for
Panuco, arrived at our port of Villa Rica at different and irregular
periods, Garray continually sending us reinforcements, which he meant for
Panuco, as he believed his intended colony at that place was going on
successfully. The first of these reinforcements after Camargo consisted of
fifty soldiers with seven horses, under the command of Michael Diaz de Auz.
These men were all plump and jolly, and we gave them the nickname of the
_Sir-loins_. Shortly after him another vessel brought forty soldiers with
ten horses, and a good supply of crossbows and other arms. These were
commanded by an officer named Ramirez, and as all his soldiers wore very
thick and clumsy cotton armour, quite impenetrable by arrows, we called
them the _Pack-horses_.
Being thus unexpectedly reinforced by upwards of an hundred and fifty men,
and twenty horses, Cortes determined to chastise the Indians of Xalatcingo,
Cacatame, and other towns near the road to Villa Rica, who had been
concerned in the murder of those Spaniards who had been sent from Villa
Rica for the treasure. For this purpose he sent a detachment of two
hundred veterans, among whom were twenty horsemen, and twelve armed with
crossbows, under the command of Sandoval, who had likewise along with him
a strong detachment of Tlascalans. Being informed that the Indians of that
district were in arms, and reinforced by Mexican troops, Sandoval sent a
message, offering pardon for the murder of the Spaniards, if they would
submit to our government, and return the treasure. Their answer was, that
they would eat him and all his men, as they had done the others. Sandoval,
therefore, immediately marched into their country, and attacked them in
two places at once, and though both the natives and the Mexicans defended
themselves with great bravery, they were soon defeated with considerable
loss. On going into some of their temples after the victory, our people
found Spanish cloths, arms, saddles, and bridles, hung up as offerings to
their gods. The inhabitants of this district submitted themselves to his
majesties government, but were unable to return the treasure, as it had
been sent to Mexico. Sandoval remained three days in this district
receiving the submission of the inhabitants, whom he referred to Cortes
for their pardon, and then returned to head-quarters, carrying a number of
women and boys along with him, who were all branded as slaves. I was not
on this expedition, being ill of a fever, attended with a vomiting of
blood; but, being bled plentifully, I recovered by the blessing of God. In
pursuance of orders from Sandoval, the chiefs of these tribes and of many
others in the neighbourhood, came to Cortes and submitted themselves to
his authority. Sandoval was sent in the next place to chastise the
inhabitants of a district called Xocotlan, who had murdered nine Spaniards,
having with him an hundred infantry, thirty cavalry, and a strong body of
Tlascalans. On entering the district, he summoned the people to submission
under the usual threats; but, as they had a considerable body of Mexican
forces to aid them, they returned for answer, that they would acknowledge
no other government than that of Mexico. Sandoval, therefore, put his
troops in motion, cautioning the allies not to advance to the attack till
the enemy were broken by our troops, and then to fall upon the Mexicans
especially. Two large bodies of the enemy were found posted in strong and
rocky ground, very difficult for our cavalry, insomuch, that before
Sandoval could drive them from this post, one of his horses was killed,
and nine wounded, as likewise were four of his soldiers. They were at
length driven from this post into the town of Xocotlan, where they took
post in the temples and some large walled courts; but were dislodged from
these and put to flight with great slaughter, our Tlascalan allies giving
good assistance, as they were incited by the hopes of abundant plunder.
Sandoval halted two days in this place, to receive the submission of the
chiefs, who begged pardon for what had passed, promising future obedience,
and to supply us plentifully with provisions.
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